sluggish engine

[Anonymous]

I have a Lionel Lackawanna Engine No. 2321. It hasn't been used in 20 years. I have cleaned it as best I can without taking it apart and gently oiled but it barely moves. I have a new transformer and another old engine works fine. Any suggestions on how to get this one operable?

[wrmcclellan]

Longwords,

Welcome to the CTT forum!

I assume it ran fine last time you had it out?

You may have grease that has hardened in the lower truck assemblies. This will require disassembling the motors from the trucks which only requires removal of one screw from the bottom.

Diagrams and parts list are here

http://pictures.olsenstoy.com/searchcd31.htm?itm=176

at www.olsenstoy.com. Olsen's also carries parts.

A few other things,

Have you checked the brushes to make sure they are not worn out?

Have you checked that nothing is stuck behind the wheels (ie a pin or brad stuck due to the magnetraction magnets that are buried in the trucks)?

Let us know what you find.

Regards,
Roy

[lionelsoni]

There are two motors. Try running it off the track to see whether both trucks behave the same. That could isolate the problem to one motor.

[Anonymous]

Thanks to all. I removed the trucks and found a little build up of grease. I cleaned as best I could. No improvement in performance. The engine tries to move but can't. When I hold one section on track and raise the other it seem that power is going to both motors.

[Anonymous]

i have the same engine and had the same problems. I cleaned all the parts of the engine and wheels i could, but found out that my layout caused the problem. went through and cleaned track, tightened conections and SOLDERED the lead (and added one more) to the track itself. This helped alot, I bought a used switcher and that runs well too, those fm's are just so big and bulky i think, need alot of care and comfort to make em per....

[lionelsoni]

You could try disconnecting one motor (the three wires on top), then the other. This would check for an electrical fault in one motor, such as shorted field-winding turns, which would slow them both down. Of course, the locomotive won't run well with one motor completely off, but you should be able to see whether the connected motor improves.

The e-unit will be wired to one motor. Then a three-wire cable will run to the other. Unsolder that latter one first, since it is easiest. When you unsolder the one connected to the e-unit, be sure to reconnect the e-unit wires to the cable to the other motor. If you lose track of the wires, the green wire goes in the middle, the blue and yellow on each side, either way. The cable between motors connects the terminals on the same sides between the two motors.

By the way, when you put the shell back on, you may notice that it is too long for the frame. The distortion of the plastic when you tighten the screws usually cracks the shell around the screw hole. Consider putting a washer between the shell and the frame to prevent this or, more likely, to keep it from cracking further.

Another problem with 2321s is that Lionel put the pickup at the far inboard end of the truck, between the blind drivers. The resulting swing out on curves can sometimes cause shorting on switches. The pickup can be rotated, swapping the functions of the mounting and wiring holes in the casting, to put the roller in an ideal location between the flanged middle wheels. This and a couple of other minor changes can allow a Trainmaster to run on O27.

[Anonymous]

Woops. There is a prior problem. I decided that perhaps I had not degreased enough. Sure enough, I did a more thorough job on one engine and it seems to be working much better. But I could not remove the truck from the other engine. My sense is that the power screw is not aligned with the gears on the truck. While the wheels on the working truck have a little give, the wheels on the other one are stuck. How can I remove the truck in this condition?

[eZAK]

Try removing the brush housing then pulling out the armature.
The wheels should now spin freely.
Clean out all old grease and replace with new.
Clean brush plate on armature with pencil eraser.
Reinstall armature.
Clean brush holders in housing with 'Q tip'
Reinstall brush housing.
Wipe off brushes and reinstall.(replace if nessary)

This should work.

If you need exploded diagrams check here http://www.hobbysurplus.com/repairbooks.asp (Fourth book down)

[lionelsoni]

Can you remove the screw from the bottom of the truck? If you can and the truck still won't come off, I would not remove the brush plate, but try to unscrew the worm by rotating the armature where it is exposed on the side of the motor. I don't think the armature would come out anyway, since there should be an e-clip on the shaft, which you can't get to until the motor and truck are separated.

It does sound like something is jammed in the truck, but I suspect that it is not the worm and worm wheel that are locked, since you should still be able to wiggle the outboard wheels in that case. If all four drive wheels are locked, that points to a problem with the idler gear between them.